Global Architecture for Emergency Response (WHPA constituency statement)

World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)
Constituency statement to 78th
World Health Assembly (May 2025)
World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)
C/o FDI World Dental Federation, Chemin de Joinville 26, 1216 Geneva, Switzerland
info@whpa.org – http://www.whpa.org/
Item 16.1 Strengthening the global architecture
for health emergency prevention, preparedness,
response and resilience (HEPPRR)
Before I start reading the constituency statement, these are the non-state actors co-
signing the statement:
• FDI World Dental Federation
• FIP International Pharmaceutical Federation
• ICN International Council of Nurses
• WMA World Medical Association
• World Confederation for Physical Therapy (World Physiotherapy)
• IADR International Association for Dental Research
Five of the organisations supporting this statement are members of the World Health
Professions Alliance, which represents over 41 million health professionals
worldwide.
The frequency, scale and complexity of health emergencies are ever increasing, and
they require global, multilateral action.
We welcome pandemic treaty`s commitments to provide frontline health
professionals with priority access to medical products and personal protective
equipment (PPE) during emergencies and ensuring decent working conditions while
protecting health professionals’ safety, mental health and wellbeing.
We also support research that strengthens the health workforce before, during, and
after emergencies.
We call on governments to address the five core capacities in HEPPRR identified in
this agenda item, and emphasize protecting health professionals from:
1. preventable adverse events in emergencies, where health professionals are
among the most vulnerable;
2. all forms of workplace violence—verbal, physical, and emotional.
World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)
Constituency statement to 78th
World Health Assembly (May 2025)
World Health Professions Alliance (WHPA)
C/o FDI World Dental Federation, Chemin de Joinville 26, 1216 Geneva, Switzerland
info@whpa.org – http://www.whpa.org/
It is essential to implement preventative security measures, such as surveillance
systems and emergency response protocols, for their safety.
Recent drastic funding cuts to the global health sector are having immediate
disastrous impacts on the health workforce on the front lines, even in non-emergency
contexts. This comes on top of persistent global health workforce shortages, albeit
with some patchy progress.
These cuts and shortages reduce the health workforce’s capacity for emergency
response and leave no scope for scalable health workforce provision in emergencies.
WHPA calls on member states to invest in health professionals’ education,
employment conditions, training and retention as a priority.